A Childhood Nightmare
---- "Hallo, friend." "Hello, Rupé, nice for you to come out of your den." "You know what I want?" "Justice?" "..." "Where exactly do you want me to go?" "To him." "Him?" "Whoever helped you become immune to my venom, I do not appreciate it." "... Give me an hour, I'll pack my stuff." ---- Something about the hill of Andrei's home looked different to Maaya as she started the walk up to the house. It felt less homely and more of a curse to be here. Maaya sighed and went on walking, stopping only when she reached the door. She had a script in her mind that she had practised until it was perfect but now, she didn't feel confident. Sweat dripped down her nose but she forced a smile. She had no choice, who else can she rely on? With a stiff hand, she knocked on the door, once, twice, three times, before taking a step back and wiping her face. She had no choice. Time to greet Andrei with a smile. Andrei raised a brow when he heard a knocking noise on his front door. It was Wednesday afternoon, and he didn't have any appointments made for the rest of the day. He had been on the ground floor of his mansion, working on small trinkets in his smaller workshop. He got to his feet, setting aside the special invention he had been working on. The person at the door was probably some salesman. And as he opened the door, he just stared in confusion. "Maaya?" Andrei said, although it sounded more like a question. "Uh, what brings you here?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck. Andrei hadn't expected anyone to come by his place today, so he wasn't dressed for meeting someone he knew. He wore a white tee and black sweatpants, with his white tee having some rips in it from how often he wore it. Maaya smiled softly at the sight of Andrei, forgetting the problems behind her. She looked like she was some sort of girl, ready to sell Andrei a bible or something with her uniform. Crisp and clean, just like always. She waved softly. "Troupe is nearby here, we plan on doing a few shows in the nearby town is all," she lied. This wasn't why she was here, at least the part about the Troupe being close was right. "Hoshiko's pissed, but I thought I should say hello at least," Maaya went on, her well rehearsed speech should work like a dream on Andrei. If not, she would be in trouble. "May I come in?" "Uh, yeah." Andrei responded, opening his door completely. "Come on in." he said. Once she had entered he closed the door behind her. "You want a drink or something?" Maaya watched the door close before quickly looking around the house. Nothing much had changed. Her mind flied as she took in everything in the house. It was like as soon as the door shut she was a different person. Panic seemed to leak on her face and she ignored Andrei's question. "H-Hey Andrei, have you made anything cool recently?" her eyes levelled towards the basement. She kept looking at Andrei then the basement in a mad fray. How else could she get this message through to him? "Uh, yeah." Andrei responded. "I've made some new suits." he continued, looking at Maaya in worry. "You wanna check them out or something?" Maaya nodded. She felt sick but she kept it together. You can warn him, just get downstairs and it should be fine, she thought before walking towards the basement. Andrei went down to his basement. His workshop was even larger than before, at least twice as before. He had worked on its expansion for a while now and it was done for now. Once they were downstairs, he turned to Maaya, a look of concern on his face. "You seem off today. Are you okay?" Maaya shook her head. "Can you make it so no one else can get down here, even like a snake?" Maaya's posture and tone changed. She looked like a small girl terrified for some reason. "You have to do it snappy, he will be coming," she said, leaving any and all context out of the conversation. "What?" Andrei asked, confused. "Nothing gets in here unless I want it. I'm always awake. And when I'm not, my suits guard me with their A.I." Andrei responded, still worried for Maaya. "Maaya, whats going on? Are you okay?" "I am not the worry, you are," Maaya said, she felt so uncomfortable, almost sick. "Rupé will try to attack you soon, I had to lead him here, I am so sorry!" she busted into tears and started to repeat her apology over and over again. "Wait, wait wait!" Andrei exclaimed, visibly worried when Maaya burst into tears. He leaned down, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Maaya, I need you to calm down." he continued, wiping away one of her tears with his finger. "Who's this Rupé? Has he hurt you?" Maaya shook her head. "No, well yes technically yes," she cleared her head but tears kept on falling. "Black Mamba, he's angry at you for helping me. Angry at me for breaking a promise I made as a kid and... shit man." Andrei tapped his feet a few times and a chair came rolling over. He had Maaya sit down as he stared in concern. "Black Mamba, the guy who poisoned you?" he asked in confusion. "Maaya, don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Is he hurting you?" She shook her head again. "Your nerves counter his poison. I get pain for a few days then it just drains out my system. He wants you... Andrei, he plans on telling everyone that your helping me. You could lose your hero license!" Andrei cursed under his breath. "But how would he tell? He has no proof that I've helped you?" Maaya said nothing for some time. She breathed heavily and seemed ready to run. "Why do you think he sent me here," she muttered, looking at the ground. "Y-You'd help him?" Andrei asked, in disbelief. "You're his proof? But how?" Silence. Maaya kept looking at the ground. "Maaya." Andrei said. "How are you his proof? He doesn't control you, right?" "Not with his quirk..." "Just...tell me what he's doing to make you help him." Andrei said, his hands beginning to twitch. Maaya looked up at Andrei, a forced smile on her face. "We were friends in Germany. He was all I had at the time despite the fact he couldn't understand me well and I couldn't understand him. We had no family, they had left us both to rot..." she paused and shivered. She closed and eyes and took a shaky breath before looking back at Andrei. "I-I promised to never break any laws and if I broke that promise, I would have to give up my dream an-" she stopped, pancking again. She froze back up and wept. She was a monster. "I didn't ask about that." Andrei responded coldly. It was strange, seeing such...disregard from someone as kind as he was. It was frightening to say the least. "What is he doing to make you help him?" he asked once again, clenching his fists. "The Troupe... you... anyone who I am in contact with and helped me. He promises me that he will," she swallowed. Her throat felt dry. "He plans on killing us and using you to do it. "A helper of a villain should help with cleaning u-"" she paused again. She dropped her eyes to the ground once more. ""cleaning up the vermin who stop the world from having justice,"" she spoke almost like she was emotionless in her last sentence. Andrei didn't look at her, he looked away, clenching his fists, so tightly that you could hear the anger being exuded from him. "Do you know where he is?" Andrei asked, now facing Maaya. But unlike usual, there was no kindness in Andrei's face. Not even a smidge. His expression was blank, but anyone could feel the anger and betrayal pouring from it. "Where is he?" Maaya stood up violently and shook her head over and over. "Andrei! Stay here, don't move please! He has no morals, no laws, nothing to gain or lose. If you d anything he will win, you cannot go back after you harm someone," Maaya took a step back, looking to the left to see her reflection in some loose metal. "Take it from the person who learned that off you..." "I don't care." Andrei said. He was holding onto his head with his right hand now. "I won't kill him...just..." he began. He turned back to Maaya, seemingly calmer, but his hands were still twitching. "Tell me. Now."